Colorado University Athletics
Colorado, Missouri Quotes
January 08, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General-"I don't know where to start, but I'll say this: today at the Coors Events Center is great and how we want Saturdays to be in January and February for the Colorado basketball program for years to come. We want this to be an event where our fans can get excited; our players can get ready to play. It is a great win for our program to beat a top ten team. I'm really proud of our guys, really proud."
On Missouri-"Here's the thing, with Missouri they try and get you on your heels. The whole key to our game plan was for our players to make decisions when we broke the press, when do we attack and when do we pull it back. If we get opportunities to score, you better take them when you have them. You have to understand when you don't have them that is when you have to pull it back out and make them work defensively. We talked about this before the game, you have to make decisions. I can't be on the sideline saying, 'wait' or 'go.' You have to have a feel and the way the game started out, we got a little gassed, they got a little gassed. It was a heck of a pace but I think playing at home, playing at altitude - that favors us. They are usually a deeper team than they were today. We need to have our bench play well to win games like this. I thought our guys really toughed it out. Playing at altitude, I just think that we have the advantage. You have to take easy baskets when you can get them."
On his team's ten turnovers-"Taking care of the ball was number one on our offense. Handle their pressure and take care of the basketball. The key with Missouri is that they are so fast, so athletic; you have to have great spacing. You don't talk a lot about spacing in the full-court when you play people but I thought our spacing was really the key to handle that pressure."
On making his team believe they could win the final 10 minutes-"I think belief is something right now with our program and with our players that we have to cultivate right now because I don't know if it is there, or if it is not there. As a coach you try and instill that in them. I know that I believed coming into this game that we could beat Missouri. You try and convey that to your players but until you get into those situations, you don't know. I felt our guys handled it well. Obviously coming down the stretch we wanted the ball in Cory's hands, we wanted the ball in Alec's hands and we wanted them to make plays, not only for themselves but also for their teammates. That is what your players do down the stretch."
On Alec Burks' shot with the shot clock winding down in the second half-"It's funny. We haven't done it in four or five weeks. We worked on half court winner and full court winners yesterday in practice. We had to talk through our half-court winner because it has been so long since we practiced it. We haven't run it yet and again getting Alec the ball in that position, he's 6-6, he can get the shot off with one second left on the shot clock. He made a hell of a shot. But that is the execution, if the shot goes in or if it doesn't, at least you got a shot and as a coach you want to make sure that your guys are getting shots. You have to make plays. Down the stretch your players have to make plays and we did that - on both ends, not just offensively, I thought we got some critical stops."
On Alec Burks' play-"He took it to another level offensively. I think we know what he could do. The thing I like about Alec and probably the most proud of Alec, given our preseason, he is so talented offensively, he feels like he can make a play every time he has the ball, and when the guy is like that, he for the sake of the team gives it up a little bit and you have to respect that. That is how our team and how our program is going to get better. We know in tight game that he is going to have to make plays, Cory [Higgins] is going to have to make plays, Marcus [Relphorde] is going to have to make plays, our seniors are going to have to make plays. You are only as good as your seniors."
On the advantage of having the best player [Alec Burks] on the court-"It's a huge advantage. Especially when you can get the ball in his hands and he can make a play. Finding the balance is the key for us. When does he go and take it upon himself, when does he get his teammates the ball, because you can't beat anybody with just one guy. He is going to have to make good decisions and when do you get your teammates the ball. He went through a stretch where he didn't score. I don't know how long it was but he went through a stretch where he didn't. As we grow and develop and mature as a basketball team, our guys will start to figure it out and I thought today was a great step in that process."
On Burks' being more fired up against his hometown school-"I do think that the thing that Alec likes is that he likes challenges. I tried to challenge him before the game, I said, 'At the end of the game, who is going to have the better over one another, Kim English or Alec Burks.' He responds to challenges, he can take it up to another level and that's I what I like about Alec. We didn't talk to him about it being his hometown. The only thing that I asked him was in the scouting reports was if we missed anything with [Marcus] Denmon and [Michael] Dixon since he grew up with those guys and played with them. He had nothing to add. It was a pretty good scouting report by [assistant] coach Tom Abatemarco. Our staff did a great job."
On where the win ranked for him-"I haven't even thought of that. I'm just so happy for our players. The question that was asked before in terms of belief, that is want I want to get out of this game. I want our guys to believe that we can play with any team in the country. It is one thing to compete, but it is another thing to compete and win. That is what you have to do, you have to compete and you have to win and our guys did that today. Now we have to go on the road and do that. That is the next hurdle for this program but where this ranks on my wins, I don't know. Obviously it's a big one, beating a top ten team, but I don't get into that. I'm into our players and our program."
On keeping the offensive pressure after halftime-"We just talked that it is not just about the first half. We talked about the things that we did well and that we had to continue to do well. Transition defense was one of them. I thought we did a pretty darn good job against a pretty good athletic team in transition today. But we had to do the things that were on the board in the first half and we had to execute. We had three words on our board: focus, confidence and execution. If we do those three things in the second half, we'll be fine. Our guys did it in both halves, which you have to do. We knew Missouri was going to make some runs but we just tried to limit those the best that we could."
On keeping the intensity after halftime-"As a coach you never know. You never know if your team is ready. Against Western New Mexico we came out as flat as a pancake and in retrospect you understand why but sometimes as a coach it is up to your players to get themselves ready. Our guys for the most part this year mentally have been in it. We haven't always played well but it is not because we weren't focused mentally. You are always worried how your team is going to come out because you never know. Leadership is key and I thought we had some good senior leadership today."
On defense in the second half-"At halftime we just talked about, 'hey we are up four on the boards, we'll hold them to 38 percent field goal percentage. That is how you win basketball games, we are up by 12. It is not some magical formula. I've been talking about it for probably every postgame, talking about field goal percentage defense. If we had hold them to under 40 percent and outrebound them by 14, if we do that, we'll give ourselves a chance to win every game, home or the road. If we defend and if we rebound, we have a chance. It doesn't mean that you will win them all but you have a chance to win them all. And that is what you want to do as a coaching staff, but your guys in the position to win every game."
On playing this well on the road Wednesday-"We have to continue to do what we've been doing. We have good basketball players on this team. We've been executing at a high level. If you look at our field goal percentage, we are second in the league. I think we are over 50 percent but if we are not, then we are just a shy under. We're executing well but I think field goal percentage is a result of shot selection and I told our guys as long as we're getting good shots. Again as a coach that is what you are focused on. Now if they make them, that is up to them, but we have some talented players offensively and obviously our numbers show it. I think defense and rebound is why we beat Missouri."
On what statement this makes to the rest of the Big 12-"I think when you come in here you better be ready to play. We'll be ready to play and again that is a top ten team. When you beat a top ten team, it is going to wake some people up, especially when you are not even ranked. It is a statement game. We want to be the new Colorado and the new Colorado wants to have the chance to win every time they step on the floor, at home or on the road. I like the fact that our players said it was a statement game. We didn't talk about it beforehand but I'm glad they felt it."
On Nate Tomlinson's play-"He's been hampered with a hip flexor. He didn't have his best outing. That is what I told our team, 'The good thing about tonight is that we still have room for improvement.' There were some performances that were good and there were performances that we know can get better. Nate is a heck of a lot better player than he played tonight. He knows that, I know that, hopefully you guys know that and our fans know that. I'm not losing any confidence in him. He is a tough kid but he has been hampered a little bit."
On Trey Eckloff's injury-"He twisted his ankle in practice yesterday."
Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson
General-"They did a good job of attacking this morning. We didn't do a good job defensively, and I think that showed early on, which enabled them to get a 12 point lead at halftime. I thought the game was pretty tough. It was 33-34, and I think we lost our composure there a little bit."
On Marcus Denmon's technical foul-"I thought it was a bad technical. That's the bottom line."
On Colorado's individual efforts-"I thought he [Alec Burks] played well. He's a good player, looked like he was an all-league performer today. Every time we made a run, he did a good job of making an answer. When you've got a guy from our home state, he's going to take it personal. Not only he played well, but I thought some other guys played well. Levi Knutson made some big shots to really give them an opportunity to enlarge the lead. I thought Cory Higgins did a good job of just kind of deferring. They wanted it more than we did. That's the bottom line-they wanted it more."
On playing on the road-"On the road there are a lot of things you have to do well. We didn't do those things well. You talk about shooting the basketball and rebounding the basketball. We didn't create turnovers. We had windows of opportunity to cash in on. We just didn't do a good job. Today they were better than we were."
On playing in the Big 12 Conference-"You can call it not being prepared and I'll take the blame. You can tell them the level of play, but until they go through it that's where the lessons are learned. Hopefully we learned a valuable lesson today. You have to bring it in order to get it."
Colorado Student-Athletes
Cory Higgins, Senior, Guard
On the win-"It feels great. We expected to win this game. It's the way we have been preparing, and it really felt great to execute the game plan and have it show up on the scoreboard."
On expecting to beat Missouri-"When we play together as a unit, we feel we can beat anybody in the country. When we play defense together we are hard to beat, especially on the offensive end; they have too many weapons out there. We felt like we were a better team."
On the remainder of the Big 12 schedule-"It's very tough. You've got to win games, and I'm glad we took a huge step and maybe opened some people's eyes in the Big 12."
On the significance of the win to him-"I think it would be number one. It's the biggest win we've had since I have been here. It's a top-ten team. I don't know the last time that was done, but it's my best memory so far. Hopefully it's one of many more to come."
On whether they were intimidated by Missouri-"Maybe two years ago, when it was a real young team. Now, it's two years down the road, and nobody has a 'deer in the headlights' look. Pretty much everybody has seen it all, so we're ready to go night in and night out."
On Missouri's aggressive style of play-"That was a point of emphasis, we've got to make them pay for pressing, and I think we did a great job of that. We've been preparing all week, since the Western New Mexico, and we came out and executed.
On Missouri's full-court press-"It feels great. I think this team is better prepared to play teams like Missouri because we like to run. I think they were just giving us opportunities to run any time they pressed. Every time they pressed, our eyes lit up, so eventually they had to get out of it for a little bit."
On Missouri's full-court press-"They feel like they don't have to guard us, but I think we proved that they have to. Not only do they have to, but other teams in the Big 12 are going to have to."
Austin Dufault, Junior, Forward
On Colorado's post defense-"We just worked a lot on team post defense in practice. They have two true big guys. [Laurence] Bowers is more of a shooter, but we worked a lot on digging when you aren't on the ball and playing solid defense."
On tiring out Missouri's bigs-"The main thing when we see them huffing and puffing like that is to just sprint harder, up and down and rim to rim. We had to beat them to the spot on defensive, and offensively, beat them down the court and get easy buckets. Tonight, I had a couple of easy tip-ins just from outrunning guys. That's a big factor for the big guys tonight for us.
On Colorado's rebounding-"We just did the little things right tonight. When a shot was up in the air, everyone was getting on a body. Nobody was standing and spectating. We just all got on bodies, and once that thing came off the rim, everybody attacked it as a team. We got a lot of team rebounds tonight, gang rebounds. We had two or three of our guys swarming it, so that is something that is big."
Alec Burks, Sophomore, Guard
On the win-"It's great. It shows that we are a different team from last year; that we can play against anybody in the Big 12 and anybody ranked. It's a statement game for us."
On beating a top-ten team-"Everybody wanted to test them out to see what they really are. Missouri is a great team, we just went out and played our game, and that's how we got the win."
On jumper to beat shot clock buzzer-"I just threw it up and it happened to go in. Sometimes it's your day and sometimes it's not."
On coming out aggressively-"I try to start out every game aggressive. Every time I step on the court, I want to be aggressive. It wasn't anything new. It's the same game every game."
On beating his home-state school-"It's not really special. It's special because they're ranked, but every game is a different game. I don't care who it is. Just because it's Missouri doesn't mean it has any extra meaning for me. It's just a game to me."
On limiting turnovers-"It's a big emphasis. We practiced that every day coming up to this game. We've got to not turn the ball over, whatever you do. We've got to come meet the pass and catch it strong. Coach [Tad] Boyle emphasized that all practice, so that's what we did."
